Redbud Trees: Try All the Flavors

I thought we had ’em all in our garden: regular “pink”, white, and purple-leaved. But last Thursday I found a new Redbud that puts the rest to shame. It’s called, ‘Appalachian Red’, and it is STUNNING (compare the 1st photo to the 2nd, “regular pink”). Like, let’s say, a Crepe myrtle pink for northern gardens. I gotta have it, but where oh where could I put another tree? PS I found it at C.J. Fiore’s Nursery in Lake County (who else has it? please comment). ALSO, “pink” is a poor adjective for the color of a regular Redbud. What color is it really? Please comment on that too.##Edit

8 Comments

Gorgeous pink color but I will say that I’ve planted many Redbuds in our area at various sites and have had little luck with any of the cultivars actually surviving unless they are sited nest to a house w/ direct southwest sun in winter. I tend to stick with the multistem Cercis canadensis and the tree form Cercis canadensis ‘Alba’. Wonder if any of the specialty nurseries have brought this ‘Appalachian Red’ in this spring?

I’m not surprised by the comment by FlowersintheWoods. I have been told by some people in the industry that their nickname for Redbuds is “Deadbuds” because so many of them fail. When you purchase one, you might want to ask where it was grown.

Mike, you said, “you might want to ask where it was grown”. Could you explain what you mean?

Here in Lake Forest, my redbuds grow like weeds. They pop up everywhere, I prob overwintered 6+ in pots in my compost pile. Protection from harsh sun, harsh wind, even harsh words is a must! That said, yesterday I saw one that just up and died. It was a transplant and had grown to 20 feet. Who knows? Still a must have!

Locally sourced/grown from seed redbuds do great in our area. I have a friend in Arlington Hts who has them seeding and popping up throughout his garden. Its native here, just have to get one from here and not TN or KY. “Mauve-pink or purple-pink” is the native color.

Hmmm, I’m waiting to hear from a few growers. I talked it over with the men who help me garden and they claim that redbuds have few roots, unless they have been root-pruned by the growers to make them more fibrous. So is hardiness dependent on having the seeds “localized” or is it dependent on root mass?

Connor Shaw, owner of (wholesale) Possibility Place Nursery and expert on all plants native, says that WELL DRAINED soil is the key to redbuds. Do not put them in a spot where they will get wet. This explains why one of my bigger redbuds, sited in an otherwise spectacular spot, bit the dust this spring. The hydrology of its site changed and it was in a stormwater runoff drainage “slough” for the first time. KAPUT!

Love Red Buds do not have one yet. My Mother had one with a trunk very old. Read about you and your garden in Country Gardens by Better Homes. Enjoyed it, you have very beautiful country place. I write a blog also http://www.gardeningwithjuanita.blogspot.com. I hope you will visit me one day. I am at the other end of our great Nation, Arkansas.